Door closing device



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F. W- JUERGENS DOOR CLOSING DEVICE July 26, 1960 Filed Nov. 2, 1956 F. w. JUERGENS 2,946,081

DOOR CLOSING DEVICE July 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed N 2, 1956 2,946,081 noon CLOSING DEVICE Fred W. Juergens, 654 Newton St., Waterloo, Iowa Filed NOV. 2, 1956,58!- NO. 619,985 A 7 Claims. (Cl. 1 6-'-80) This invention relates to improvements in a door closing device, and more particularly to a device for-maintainlng an unlatched door in closed position when the door is not in use against wind pressure from the outside or other differences in atmospheric pressure between the areas on the inside and outside of the door, the device being highly desirable for us in connection with industrial plant doors, restaurant kitchen doors, glass entrance doors, and substantially any type of door, although the device is particularly desirable for swinging doors of the character that are opened by kicking, or pushingagainst them with an industrial truck or the like or with a hand load, although there are other uses and purposes for the invention as will be apparent to one skilled in the art.

The instant invention may be utilized even with doors held in closed position by a latch, if so desired, to imsure the positive closing of the door. The invention may also be utilized with doors made of substantially any material including wooden doors, aluminum doors, metal covered doors, rubber doors, glass doors, etc.

In the past, extreme difliculty has been experienced, particularly with swinging doorsthat open in either diatet motion and which are opened'usually-"by bumping against them with a power vehicle or industrial truck in the case of a manufacturing plant, or with the part of the body or a tray in the case of kitchen doors as found in restaurants and similar places, in that where a differential in atmospheric pressure was occurrent the doors would seldom reach fully closed position" thereby resulting in objectionable drafts and temper-ature changes. Further, the swinging doors frequently :would'pass well beyond closed position on the oppositefside due to their momentum to the surprise and danger of others attempting to pass through the same door.

While .in the past devices have been'developed to insure the closing of a doom-in all instances :of which I am aware such devices had a positive connection with the door itself, and such devices were not readily associated with doors of many materials,such as plate glass for example, and in most cases do not stop the door at closed position but permitted it to swing therebeyond and ice A further feature of the instant invention is the ;provision of a door closing device which may readily be mounted on the door frame and while having an element ,contactingthe door itself, has no direct connection with the door. I 7

Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of a door closing device having an arm carrying acontacting element for engaging the door, withmeans to limit the closing movement of that arm and stop the motion of the'arm very shortly after the door reaches fully :closed .position, unless the door is held in closed positionby a latch or other positive mechanism.

I Still another object of the instant invention is the provision of a door closing device-which exerts some pressure against a door when the door is 'in fullyclosed position, and acts against the door as the dooris opened with a gradual increase in pressure as the door .moves toward fully opened position, whereby when the door is released the device will positively move the door to its closed position.

Also an object of the invention is the provision o a door closing device made to function with substantially any type door, including doors which are so hinged as to elevate as they open and provide more ground clearance in fully opened position than in closed position.

' Still a further object of the instant invention resides in the provision of a door closing device which may readily bemounted' in position by substantially any user, and :does notrequire the aid of askilled-workman for that purpose. 5 I

While some of the more salient features, characteristics and advantages offthe instant invention have been above pointed out, others will become apparent from the following disclosures, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 isa fragmentary elevational view of double two-way swing doors equipped with devices embodying principles of the instant invention;

:Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary plan sectional viewataken substantially as indicated by the line I I-II of Figure l,'lookin'g in the direction of the arrows, and

showing .two oppositely disposed devices in plan;

Figure 3 is also an enlarged'fragmentary plan sectional View of the general character of Figure-2, but

illustrating ther-door in a partially opened position; I

Figure 4zis a greatly enlarged fragmentary elevational view of the door checking device itself, with parts broken away and parts shown in section;

Figure 5 is a still further enlarged .plansectional view taken substantially as indicated by the line V-V of Figure 4.

gradually assume an approximately closed position as its momentum died out. -In addition, it may be mentioned that doors held with a latch, or one-way doors, frequently did not close sufficiently to latch regardless of what character of device was associated with that door. 7

With the foregoing in mind, it is an important object of the instant invention to provide a door closing device arranged to positively move a door to closed position against wind, air currents, or other difierentials 'in atmospheric pressure.

Another object of the instant invention resides in the J provision of a door closing device arranged to positively move a door to fully closed position, and in the case of two-way swinging doors maintain the door in closed position and not carry the door past closed position upon a closing movement.

As shown on the drawings:

At the outset, it should be noted that the instant invention is to be distinguished from the commonly known door checking devices which are supposed to assure the gentle closing of a door, but which are mounted on the opposite side tion.

By way of example, the instant invention is shown 7 associated wth'a pair of double two-way swing doors,

and in such case four devices are'use'd, "one on each side of each of the doors, and preferably the devices are disposed directly opposite each other on each 'side of a door from the instant invenon the opening side of each of the The illustrated embodiment of the instant invention is shown associated with a single door frame 1 within which a pair of two-way swinging doors 2 and 3 are mounted. Since the construction of the doors is the same, and the same devices are utilized, except for left and right disposition, it is only necessary herein to describe the devices associated with one of the doors. As seen in Figure 2, each door is mounted to swing in either direction about a hinge pin 4 journalled in suitable upper and lower sockets 5 and 6 mounted on the frame 1. The doors may be made of any suitable material such as rubber for industrial doors opened by moving a mechanically powered or a man-powered vehicle directly against them, wood as in the case of restaurant doors, glass in the case of fancy entrance doors to buildings, etc. As seen clearly in Figures 1 and 2, there is a door closing device 7 on one side of each door, an opposed thereto is a similar device generally indicated by numeral 8 associated with the opposite side of the same door.

The devices are preferably mounted high on the door as illustrated in Figure 1 to avoid the possibility of contact with the head of the person passing through the door or interference with a high load being moved through the door.

With reference more particularly to Figs. 4 and 5, it will be seen that each door closing device comprises a cylinder or casing 9 to which an attaching flange 10 is secured in any suitable manner. This flange may be bolted or otherwise secured to the frame of a door. The cylinder or casing 9 is hollow, and over the upper end thereof is a cap member 11 that may rotate relatively to the cylinder. This cap member is provided with a series of apertures or openings 12 therearound in its exposed portion, and extends within the cylinder 9 in the form of a stepped plug 13 having a slot 14- at one point therein. At the lower end of the cylinder there is a plug 15 of the same internal construction, but which is fixedly secured to the cylinder 9. Inside the cylinder 9'is a coil spring 16 having one end 17 thereof anchored in the aforesaid slot 14 in the plug 13, and the opposite end of this spring is similarly anchored in a similar slot in the plug of the lower cap 15 as indicatedat 18 in Figure 5. To hold the parts in respective operating position, a smooth rod 19 extends centrally through the cylinder and through the respective caps 11 and 15. This rod is preferably fixed to the cap 15, and the extended ends thereof are threaded to accommodate decorative nuts 20-20.

Extending from the cylinder 9 is an arm 21 which is preferably apertured at one end to receive the upper end of the rod 19. As seen in Figure 4, the arm 21 is disposed between the upper cap 11 and the adjacent nut 20. A bracket 22 is provided with a pin 23 for insertion in a selected one of the apertures 12 in the upper collar or cap member 11, and also with a stud or set screw 24 for engagement through an aperture in the arm 21. By this means, the arm and the cap member 11 are rotatable in unison when so connected.

The free end of the arm 21 is preferably provided with a yoke 25 disposed transversely to the arm, and carrying a fixed shaft 26 therein. 'On this shaft a free running roller 27 is mounted. As seen clearly in Figure 4, it will be noted that the roller is preferably much less in width than the length of the shaft between the arms of the yoke 25, whereby the roller may move up and down while rotating against a door. This roller may be made of any suitable material, but is preferably of some non-marring material such as rubber, synthetic rubber or a plastic.

When the device is mounted into operative position as seen in Figures 1 and 2, the roller 27 will be in contact with the door while the door is in closed position and remains in contact with the door during an opening movement of the door toward thedevice, but will not remain in contact with the door if the door is opened in the opposite direction against the action of the opi 28 on the door.

posing device. While the rollers may operate against the door surface itself, if that surface is smooth and hard, in many cases it is preferable to provide a wear plate 28 on each side of the door for contact by the rollers. This is particularly desirable where the door is of the type that elevates as it moves to open position to provide more ground clearance when opened than when closed. With such a door, the roller is free to rise accordingly on the shaft 26 if necessary to avoid any binding.

In operation, the instant invention is extremely simple and positive. With the device acting on each side of the swing door 2, for example, as seen in Figure 2, each of devices 7 and 8 is exerting some pressure against the door. This is a minimum amount of pressure suflicient to hold the door in closed position against external wind or other differentials in atmospheric pressure, and is predetermined by preloading the respective spring 16 to a desired extent. This is accomplished by inserting the pin 23 of the bracket 22 in one of the apertures 12 in rotary cap member 11 and then turning the cap member by means of the bracket until the bracket is in alignment with the arm 21 in door closing position when the bracket is secured to the arm. As the door is swung to open position the spring 16 is further twisted, gradually increasing the pressure against the door. When the door is released the spring pressure will insure closing of the door, the roller 27 operating along the wear plate The closing movement of the door will bring the door into contact with the closing device on the opposite side thereof, and the two devices will maintain the door in fully closed position.

As noted from the showing in Figure 3, the door is being moved toward open position against the closing that it cannot continue following the door.

device 18and away. from the closing device 7. The movement of the closing device 7 is stopped, in the illustrated instance, by contact with the 'door frame 1 so The stopping of the arm 21 of the closing device 7 is preferably at a point where the closing device would have just moved the door past fully closed position. With that arrangement, there is no continuous swinging of the door due to momentum, but just sufficient pressure to insure even contact of both opposed closing devices with the door when the same is closed.

In the case of a door held by a latch or the like, the closing device will insure a positive latching of the door by exerting continuous pressure on the door until the latch is engaged.

While the biasing action of the spring 16 is gradually increased as the door moves toward fully opened position, the pressure of the spring is not sufficient to withstand the ready passage of a person through the door. Consequently, the door may be moved to open position very easily and readily, and the closing of the door is positively insured.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that I have provided a door closing device that is positive in action, simple 1n construction, long lived, which requires a minimum amount of attention, and which may be economically manufactured.

It will be understood that modifications and variations maybe effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the presentinvention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A door closer comprising a cylinder, a mounting flange on said cylinder, a cap member on each end of said cylinder, a coil spring in said cylinder with an end anchored to each of said cap members, one of said cap members being rotatable relative to ,said cylinder, means retaining the rotary cap member on the cylinder, an arm received at one end upon said retaining means, means removably associated with the arm and rotary cap member connecting said arm with said rotary cap member in a position to preload said spring and cause simultaneous rotation of the arm and cap member, and a roller carried by the free end of said arm.

2. A door closer comprising a casing, mounting means on said casing for connection with a door frame, a rotary member on said casing, means retaining the rotary memher on the casing, spring means in said casing connected to said rotary member and biasing the same, an arm received upon the retaining means and connected to said rotary member and extending therefrom, link means connecting the arm to the rotary member whereby said arm and member rotate in unison, and door bearing means on the free end of said arm.

3. A door closer comprising a casing, mounting means on said casing for connection with a door frame, a rotary member on said casing, means retaining the rotary member on the casing, spring means in said casing connected to said rotary member and biasing the same, an arm received upon the retaining means and connected to said rotary member and extending therefrom, a linkage con nected to the arm outwardly of the retaining means and connected to the rotary member whereby said member and arm rotate in unison, and a free running roller on the free end of said arm.

4. A door closer, comprising a casing, mounting means thereon, a rotary member on said casing having a series of openings therein, means retaining the rotary member on the casing, a spring in said casing having an end anchored to said rotary member, an arm received at one end upon the retaining means, bracket means connecting said one end of said arm to said rotary member and received in a selected opening of said member, and a door contacting member at the opposite and free end of the arm, said bracket means providing a connection between the rotary member and arm whereby said memher and arm rotate in unison.

5. A door closer, comprising a casing, mounting means for said casing, a rotary member on said casing, means retaining the rotary member on the casing, resilient means in said casing connected to and biasing said rotary member, an arm having an end received upon the retain ing means, bracket means received at opposite ends in said arm and said rotary member, the bracket means providing a connection between the rotary member and arm whereby said member and arm rotate in unison, and a door contacting element on the free end of said arm for hearing against a door which opens to move said arm against the biasing action of said resilient means.

6. A door closer, comprising a casing, mounting means for said casing, a rotary member on said casing, means retaining the rotary member on the casing, resilient means in said casing connected to and biasing said rotary member, an arm having an end received upon the retaining means, bracket means received at opposite ends in said member and said rotary member, the bracket means providing a connection between the rotary member and arm whereby said member and arm rotate in unison, a shaft on the free end of said arm, and a roller of less width than the length of said shaft freely operable on the shaft.

7. A door closer, comprising a casing, mounting means thereon, a rotary member on said casing having a series of openings therein, means retaining the rotary member on the casing, a spring in said casing having an end anchored to'said rotary member and having its opposite end anchored in the casing, an arm rotatably received 'at one end upon the retaining means, a bracket having a pin adapted to enter a selected one of the openings in said rotary member, a stud on said bracket to engage said arm, and a door contacting member on the free end of said arm.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

